Carousel Beast:abhorrent1: Sophie, who had no identification, was brought in Feb. 20 by a resident who had been feeding her for two days after finding her on the street.

Pro Tip #1: If you feed a cat, it will come back to your house whether it's a stray or not.Pro Tip #2: Cats are not like dogs. Seeing one walking down the street does NOT mean it's a stray. They have a very large range and wander before going home.Pro Tip #3: Keep your urban cats inside you assholes

Well yeah. farm/rural cats are a different story. And people in those areas are smart enough to know that just because a cat is outside, it doesn't mean it's a stray. I mean, seriously. Who just picks up a cat they see on the street and takes it to a shelter? If it comes right up to you, it's not a stray. If it is indeed a stray, you'll never catch it.

Storey and her family put up fliers after Sophie sneaked out Feb. 17, hoping to find her. Storey, 51, said she went to Animal Services Feb. 21 and 22, but workers told her they hadn't seen her cat.

Four days between Sophie getting out and checking with animal services? There's another part of the problem.

My (chipped) dogs got loose and I only spent an hour looking around the neighborhood before calling the SPCA and county animal shelter. They had already been picked up by animal control and the guy met me in a parking lot to give them back instead of taking the to the shelter.

You'd be surprised how many lost animals are not microchipped. Used to work at an animal after-hours ER and we'd get calls all of the time. Even had a log book just in case we could match a "lost" with a "found". We'd even go so far as to surf Craigslist when we'd get a lull in emergencies. Our doctors would some times perform that exam as to whether the animal would live for the confinement period (usually 72 hours). If it's a no, and you can't find where anyone is looking for the animal, it's really cruel to send them into a shelter setting.

Here is the speech that I would give people calling in with lost animals. Really simple. Go to the shelter every day. Only you know your animal, and shelter staff are most often too overwhelmed to recognize the pet you describe as "Kennel inmate #xxx".

Knew that speech by rote. Why? I had the same thing happen. Our guy (chipped, but for some reason the registration never went through) jumped the fence. Called the shelter, got the "no, he's not here". Went anyway, and there he was looking at me through the fence. When you have 400 animals in one place, no one is going to realize the your specific yellow Lab/Retriever red dog something mix is THAT one.

While I'm at it, if you move. . . .UPDATE your address with the chip company. A thousand times this. It never is helpful to have a chip with a "not in service" phone number attached.

abhorrent1:Who just picks up a cat they see on the street and takes it to a shelter?

Anyone who is tired of cats killing their songbirds or shiatting in their kids' sandbox? Anyone who notices that it looks sick and actually gives a shiat about making sure the poor thing isn't suffering? People who care about a potentially lost pet that may have escaped the house of a caring owner?

You want a pet? Cool. Keep it on your property where it's your responsibility and you can make sure it's safe and healthy. Everything else is Animal Control's domain.

I wouldn't say a vet faced with an emaciated cat that likely had failing kidneys due to a thyroid condition would find no reason to give it mercy. Even if it was my cat. But if she did go there twice while the cat was there and still alive, as she says, then we have a problem. Just scanned quickly, but I don't think they gave a date on the euthanasia.

abhorrent1:Sophie, who had no identification, was brought in Feb. 20 by a resident who had been feeding her for two days after finding her on the street.

Pro Tip #1: If you feed a cat, it will come back to your house whether it's a stray or not.Pro Tip #2: Cats are not like dogs. Seeing one walking down the street does NOT mean it's a stray. They have a very large range and wander before going home.Pro Tip #3: Keep your urban cats inside you assholes

Sophie, who had no identification, was brought in Feb. 20 by a resident who had been feeding her for two days after finding her on the street.

Pro Tip #1: If you feed a cat, it will come back to your house whether it's a stray or not.Pro Tip #2: Cats are not like dogs. Seeing one walking down the street does NOT mean it's a stray. They have a very large range and wander before going home.Pro Tip #3: Keep your cats inside you assholes